


Take a Break

by Iris_the_Messenger



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Consensual Sex, F/M, Oral Sex, Stress Relief, Too much paperwork for one man
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:34:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24174445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iris_the_Messenger/pseuds/Iris_the_Messenger
Summary: A burden of war no one ever highlights is the sheer amount of ungodly paperwork that must be done in order to keep things running smoothly.Claude is overworked, and Byleth offers some much needed relief. Self-indulgent smut, could not get it out of my head.
Relationships: My Unit | Byleth/Claude von Riegan
Comments: 5
Kudos: 98





	Take a Break

**Author's Note:**

> Am currently working on the next chapter of my other story, but was overcome with a need for pointless fluff/smut. 
> 
> Everyone else is having so much fun, I thought I'd join lol I know it's been done before, but please indulge a poor sinner with a soft heart for these two <3

A burden of war no one ever highlights is the sheer amount of ungodly paperwork that must be done in order to keep things running smoothly. 

No sonnets in honor of the many hours dedicated to signing away missives and letters in regard to potential allies, noble lords and ladies, or the numerous correspondence of various field agents. Lists of equipment storage, food, and other miscellaneous inventory or incoming resources outsourced from allies, no sweet odes to the seemingly endless scratching of his feathered quill against rough parchment as he reached out for more aid than they can afford.

Yet, after almost five years of succeeding his grandfather as head of the Leicester Alliance it is a stark reality that Claude von Riegan had resigned himself to almost daily. Even more so after they had begun to move, declaring open war alongside the Church of Seiros, the Crest of Flames banner hanging high above them, as they marched against the Empire. Every day they received more supplies, support and soldiers and every day he it seemed there was a new pile of letters from noble houses he wasn’t sure he had ever even heard of that needed addressed before a new batch presented itself the next day. 

Threatening to consume him wholly, there were days he went without seeing his friends and allies. He couldn't have asked for better though, for they all seemed to understand the difficulty of his position and tried to help in any small way they could by taking on extra duties around the monastery (or in Hilda’s case, declaring herself as an overseer of sorts as she directed others to do the heavy lifting and running) Poor Seteth, acting now as second to the new archbishop, did his best to try and aid Claude in the futile endeavor but there were some things that required his personal touch, or pen as it were, and while they were allies in the war, he was still weary of the church’s interference.

Locking himself up in the late-captain’s private office, which he had claimed for himself with the blessings of his daughter, their head general and former professor, this was one such week. Where the influx of letters and paperwork demanded his urgent and undivided attention, he hardly had a moment to himself.

Byleth, bless her compassionate and understanding soul, had taken it upon herself to make sure he at least ate something every now and then, even if it was just a bite of bread or cheese, to maintain his strength. Otherwise, the newly coupled lovers would have never seen each other at all.

His heart ached for her, but duty was always at the forefront of their minds, at least with the war still raging and he was glad for her patience. She was an impossible woman, in the best sense, in that she not only understood his position, but she fully supported him as well. She never complained, though she had every right to, but he supposed that was just her nature. The only time she was ever selfish was in regard to those around her, their safety and happiness, and never herself.

She had always been that way, even back before her five-year disappearance, or her joining with the goddess Sothis. He tried to urge her along, in his own playful way, to be a little more selfish every now and then, if nothing else than so he could see her smile.

Such a small thing would have given him more strength or energy for sure, especially now as he sat hunched over more blasted paperwork, the clock nearing midnight. He had seen no one really all day and had only taken a small lunch if it could have even been called that much earlier in the day.

It is a welcome surprise then when, late in the night, he hears a soft rapping at his office door. He calls for whoever it is to let themselves in, as he sorts through a series of documents he has just finished overseeing, giving them a once over before setting them atop one of the ever-growing piles on his desk.

Even more pleasant he finds that said person is in fact the person whose presence he missed most, arguably his closest confidant and the light of his night sky. The Fell Star herself; Byleth Eisner. 

As she steps into the room clad in her long coat, which is surprisingly buttoned closed, with her arms through the sleeves instead of worn like a makeshift cloak over her usual attire he can’t help but brighten instantly.

“Teach! Come to offer me some much-needed divine intervention from my self-induced purgatory of paperwork?” Despite how tired and heavy his face feels, he offers her his most brilliant smile which she returns softly, her eyes reflecting pure starlight.

It’s then he notes the tray of porcelain in her arms, the heavy aroma of his favorite Almyran Pine drifting through the room, and he releases sigh of bliss. “You spoil me, teach. Truly, name it and I will have statues erected in honor of your unending kindness, an endless parade of your favorite flowers delivered daily, all the bait you could ever want for fishing!”

She holds up her hand to stop his over the top declarations, laughing softly.

“I think a simple ‘thank you’ will suffice…for now” She gives him a sly smile, making her way to the coffee table to set the tray down. “I thought you could use a little break, and I’ve missed you. We’ve hardly seen each other this past week.”

Ah, so she had noticed as well. He felt his chest swell a little in overwhelming affection, having her miss him as he was missing her was sweetness itself on his tongue. “Allow me a moment to finish this last missive, and I will join you, my friend.”

“Take your time, dear hart.”

She relished in the large, and more importantly genuine, smile that was now plastered across his face at the affectionate nickname she’d only recently begun to use when it was just the two of them. He was always using sweet terms of endearment for her, even more now since they had confessed their feelings for one another, some even in a language she was unfamiliar with, but only in hushed tones between them in the middle of the night. So, she only thought it fair she gave it a try herself. The double meaning behind the sweet words, puny as they were, only served to please him more.

Pouring them each a cup, she glanced up in time to watch him roll his neck in annoyance. He must have been hunched over for hours, chipping away at the seemingly endless piles of paperwork before him.

“Stiff?”

“As a board, unfortunately. But you know the saying, ‘no rest for the wicked’ though I question the wickedness in approving more food rations for soldiers who serve the Church in the name of the very goddess they worship.”

“I think I could offer some assistance for that.”

“Oh?” He chuckles softly, scribbling away at the parchment. “Pray tell how, my friend?”

“Claude?” She urges, her voice lilting enough to catch his interest.

Looking up from his work, he nearly snaps his pen in two.

Standing in the middle of the room, bathed in candlelight, with shadows dancing temptingly across bare flesh was Byleth in all her unearthly glory. 

Completely naked, her coat undone and pooled around her bare feet (how had he not noticed she wore nothing on her feet, the room was dark but not that dark. Or was he just that distracted?)

She had tousled her hair off to the side to appear more alluring, not that that was awfully hard to do and appraised him from across the room with a dangerous look in her eyes. Like a predator cornering her prey, having lured him into a false sense of security with her gift of tea, which Claude found himself forgetting completely at this point.

For once his quick tongue failed him as he stared, dumbstruck, barely aware of himself as he leaned back into his chair as she covered the space between them with swaying hips and sure strides of her long, shapely legs. He felt his mouth go dry as she reached him, leaning against the edge of the desk in a way so that he could take her in by the eyeful, exposed for his personal viewing pleasure. 

Gods and stars above, she was amazing.

Years as a mercenary had given her strong, toned arms, legs and a firm, flat stomach. But it was by the graces of her parent’s genetics, he was guessing her mother in particular, that she had also been gifted with an ample figure, a softness to compliment the hardness of her battle-earned body.

“Perhaps we can get you moving around a bit to help loosen the tension from your limbs…” She offered, biting her bottom lip in a way that made it hard to focus on his response.

“By…”

She leans forward suddenly, taking his face in her hands. Their faces are so close now, barely a hair’s breadth between them and Claude feels the room getting warmer by the second, or is that him? He suddenly feels so uncomfortable and restricted within his own clothes, as simple as they are, a plain button-down tunic and breaches.

“I missed you so, so much…” Her voice was barely a whisper, but it was all he could focus on aside from the roaring of his own blood. “Did you miss me?”

He licked his lips, suddenly feeling very, very thirsty. “Desperately, achingly so…”

She hummed in approval, closing the space between them with a searing kiss. He groaned, returning the kiss with enthusiasm as they moved their mouths, purposefully savoring the taste and feel of the other after so long apart. They had only managed a few stolen kisses here and there, between meetings and their other, numerous duties, barely any time to enjoy a proper embrace.

He swallows thickly as she pulls away, a single thread of saliva connecting them still, and crawls into his lap, making no attempts to hide her intentions as she grinds purposefully into his hips, her lips find his once again. She steals his breath as her hands work at his shirt, ripping at the buttons rather than waste her patience to undo them like a civilized person. Victorious, she pulls the offending cloth aside to run her fingers across his broad chest, wriggling through the soft curls of his chest hair.

He’s panting heavily when she pulls away to make her way to his neck, tasting the spice of him with a hunger she’d been repressing all week. Her hips grinding against him now in a slow, steady, yet desperate rhythm. He’s grabbed onto her by then, rough hands trying to urge her to move faster as he buries his face into her hair. Inhaling deeply, she smells of the earth, wind, and sea all at once with the sharpest hint of metal.

His warrior goddess. 

His own, personal religion.

She means to mark him as her’s as she lavishes his flesh with bruising kisses, sucking, and biting at his skin. She means to devour me; he thinks through the haze of it all.

It sends shocks of pleasure through his already wanting body, the heat building between them becoming almost suffocating. Yet, he welcomes it with each harsh gasp of that escapes him.

His focus is narrowing, as his mind begins to lose itself solely to a more primal calling. He’s hard, tortuously so, the confines of his pants agony as she moves against him. The darkened room, with only the barest of light from a few candles only helps to edge on his desire.

No one is around, he rationalizes through the fog. It’s so late, and the paperwork will keep until morning with a fresh pot of his favorite tea to re-energize and focus his moral. He almost feels bad for abandoning the tea Byleth brought, but only almost.

It’s her hot breath on his ear that breaks him, her teeth grazing against the softness and pulling gently at the golden earring he’s worn since childhood. A guttural noise from his throat, not quite a growl or groan but a maybe a combination of the two, is all the warning she receives before he pulls her up, the chair he had been sitting in pushed harshly away and clattering backwards.

All manner of papers, once meticulously organized after hours of careful preparation, are discarded just as carelessly as the chair as he swipes them away from the surface of the desk. Replaced with the heated, writhing body of his beloved who he deposits tenderly in their place.

He finishes her work by pulling what remains of his shirt off, tossing the fabric to the floor, joining the scattered paper.

Hands tangling in her mess of mint green tresses, he pulls her into another desperate kiss, taking the lead this time as his tongue more claims the territory of her mouth and lips in the stead of exploration. When they part to catch whatever breath is allowed between them, they stay connected by the crowns of their forehead.

Their eyes meet, searching through the lust and desire to see one another in the way only they knew. His emerald gaze is dark and wanton, having responded and risen to her own level of urgency, but she sees the rawness of him within as well. 

He swallows again, she could always see him. See him through his fake smiles and carefully practiced charm, his half-truths and straight up lies.

From that first meeting so many years ago in the woods, after the bandits had attacked, they had gravitated around each other as the other’s anti-thesis. Where he shone brightly in his golden splendor and schemes, she was calm and somber, but her words were honest and blunt. Her nature, while a glorious mystery to him, complimented his own so well it often left him less surefooted under her disarming gaze.

Slowly, he takes her hand in his own, kissing the delicate, vulnerable skin of her wrist with such a show of reverence her heart, un-beating as it is, aches with that intense, indescribable feeling only he had ever been able to draw out of her.

“Byleth, my love…” His lips hum a soothing vibration down her arm as he continues his kisses, trailing down the length of her graceful limb. “My darling, teach…” She gasps softly as he nuzzles between her breasts, his tongue flicking out like a serpent’s against a hardening nipple. He mouths the other, earning another pleased gasp before he pulls away, teeth pulling gently at her pink bud. “What have I ever done to deserve you?”

“Ahh, Claude…” She moans, as he continued his journey down the waiting expanse of her body.

She was practically glowing in the candlelight, her pale skin like tangible moonshine under his darker skin, glowing brighter and brighter under his touch. Sliding down her belly, savoring the firmness of it, he dipped his tongue playfully into the curve of her navel. Her hips jerking in response, he smirks. “So eager for me, hmmm?”

“Claude!” She scolds breathlessly, she would have frowned down at him had she the will. But, overcome with heat and desire, she could scarcely think of the action.

It had taken all her courage, and some gleeful goading by Hilda who had helped her concoct this seduction, just to simply walk the halls of the monastery in nothing but her coat, spurred on by the sole desire to see Claude and hopefully spend a few intimate moments with him. 

He was so close, so close to where she burned for him the most. She lifted her hips again, this time with purpose as he finally made his way between her legs. He kissed the softness of her inner thigh, feeling her tremble under his lips. He was assaulted by the smell of her arousal, her wetness. His hunger rose, glazed eyes taking her in. Her legs spread lewdly, just for him.

“My brightest star…” He breathes, nuzzling into her core.

She cried out helplessly, her back arching as he gifted her with a long, slow lick of his tongue. One of her legs wraps behind his head in response, but he holds the other firmly over his shoulder for control. 

He’d always been praised, and cursed, for his silver tongue but only a very few had the experience of enjoying his skill in this manner. For his beloved teacher and dearest friend, he doubled those efforts and skills learned, wanting to give her everything he had, could possibly give to the one person who saw him like no other. Praying upon her alter with heady licks and breathless prayers, he was rewarded with gasps and moans of his own name, a holy mantra on his lover’s lips.

“Right there…ahhh, Claude…!” Oh, how he loved to hear her say his name like that. Groaning, he felt himself twitch, eager for more. Patience, however inconvenient, was a virtue, he reminded himself.

Tangling her fingers in his soft hair, now a mess of unruly, sweaty locks, she urged him on as the coil of pleasure within her tightened dangerously. Tongue still dancing for her, Claude could easily feel the tension in her legs as her release drew closer. Smirking, he moved his free hand between them, seeking her heat.

It was all too much, as he filled and worked her with deft, clever fingers. Ecstasy crashed through her like an overwhelming tidal wave, her back arching off the desk as she came. He was merciless. Hearing his love’s cry of completion, he eagerly quickened his pace, his tongue and digits working in tandem to overstimulate her throbbing core. Byleth whimpered and screamed, clawing at his hair, unable to do anything but ride the unending assault of pleasure he was unleashing. Her second orgasm crashed into her like the sweetest death, her vision whitening as nothing else mattered, her senses overdrawn.

Panting huskily, he finally released her, drawing himself up in alignment with her. No longer able to hold himself back, he worked himself out of his pants, untying the front of his breeches until his member was free and unrestrained.

He groaned, overcome with the sight of her, sprawled out and absolutely wrecked from his work, her hair a halo of soft spearmint framing her pleasure-laden face. All for him and only him, he thought. He ran his hand up her chest, feeling her shallow breathes, to her face. She was warm, her skin flush and compliant as she smiled dreamily up at him, feeling the brush of his thumb over her cheek.

Those jade eyes of her’s sparkled with such adoration and absolute trust for him, he absolutely melted, helpless against her. She’d become so expressive since those early days, in no small part thanks to his own efforts and those of their beloved comrades, formally of the Golden Deer house. He wasn’t sure what gods were smiling down upon them that day, when she’d made her decision to lead them, teach them, but he thanked them, silently every day during this bloody war that was coming to a close sooner every day with her by his side.

“Oh, By…” He took himself in hand, meeting her heat with his own. His head lolled, as he filled her with aching satisfaction.

They breathed as one, relief flooding them as they were finally joined. Claude, overcome with the velvet heat of her, coupled with the tightness in his chest threw her leg over his shoulder once again and began to move in earnest against her at the angle he knew best would finish them both. 

At this point he was too far gone to draw out their lovemaking, the week apart just as hard on him as it had been for her. Touch starved and given his greatest treasure so willing he had not the clear head to slow down or ease up.

The room was filled with the sounds of them, their harsh breathing, the scraping of the legs of the desk against the wooden floor and the slap of wet skin. He buried his face into her leg, kissing the flesh lovingly as sweat trickled down his back, his arms. 

“C-Claude, I’m…I’m going to -!” She moaned, a salacious ode to their union.

It was all too much, and as his hips snapped in an unsteady rhythm, he felt himself approaching his end as well. Reaching down, he worked the pad of his thumb against her to help her over the edge one last time. Never let it be said he ever left his lady wanting, he thought as he felt her tighten around him in a near-vice grip. “Yeah, just like that…come for me, love.”

His voice, deep and heavy with his desire, was the final push she needed as the goddess-incarnate released a wordless cry as she came, squeezing him so impossibly tight, he honestly thought he might die. His hips stuttered as he came, teeth grazing her flesh, gripping her hip so tight he worried he may have bruised her. “Fuck, By -!”

It took a moment for both of them to come down from their high, the room becoming quiet once again as they caught their breath. He continued to move against her, slowly now, as he could now savor the moment.

He’d have a mess to clean up in the morning, but that was of little consequence to him at this very moment. The haze of their lovemaking was lifting, but the euphoric state he was in left his limbs loose and extraordinarily little care for anything else except the two of them.

“Are you ok?”

He nodded, laughing lightly. “I should be asking you that, love. I wasn’t too rough?” She shook her head, stretching underneath him like a cat.

“Your so, unbelievably beautiful…” He sighed. Carefully, he lowered her leg from his shoulder before leaning forward to kiss her tenderly along her jaw and swollen lips. “Let’s try not to wait a whole week before we do this again, I don’t feel like re-organizing all of that paperwork every week. Not that I wouldn’t, mind you, but if given the choice…”

She laughed, “Please do remember it was I who came to you, not the other way around, deer hart.”

“Fine, fine…” He conceded, “and I happily thank you for that! I apologize for making milady pine for me so. Allow me to clean us both up, as penance.”

Letting himself slide out of her warmth with a sigh, the flesh limp but sensitive all at once, he made his way to the coffee table, grabbing a napkin from the abandoned tea tray. He wiped himself clean as best he could before tucking himself back into his pants. Grabbing a few more napkins, he returned to the desk, where Byleth was still reclining languidly. 

He smirked, giving her a wink before he went about cleaning her of their mixed fluids. She sighed, letting him do as he pleased. Satisfied, he grabbed her coat and his ripped shirt from where they lay on the floor, redressing the best he could (the buttons were a loss) and draped her coat around her until her naked body was covered from prying eyes.

“Well, I think that’s enough work for tonight.” He chuckled, kissing her forehead.

Blowing the candles out, he gathered her in his arms and made his way down the silent hallway to the stairs to the second level dorms. There were a few guards posted, but they did not try and stop him. He and Byleth often worked late nights together, however he could not account for anything they may have heard, or if they took note of his ripped shirt or her bare feet.

He quickened his step, Byleth secure in his embrace as they approached his old dorm room. Byleth opened the door for them, and he kicked it closed once inside. He arranged her lovingly on his bed before kicking his boots, which he had yet to take off for the night, off and joining her. His shirt, a lost cause, followed as he reclined lazily.

She laughed softly, snuggling into his bare chest. “I am sorry for the mess; I can help you clean up.”

He shushed her, kissing the top of her head as he wrapped his arms around her. “That’s a concern for tomorrow, for future Claude and Byleth. Right now, let’s just enjoy the here and now. Alright, my love?”

She hummed in agreement, happy to snuggle into his embrace. It took only a few moments, then he felt her breathing even out as she fell into a deep slumber.

Despite the sleep that threatened to take him as well, and the ache of his sore muscles, a combination of sitting too long hunched over paperwork and then exquisite overexertion, he took a moment to watch his lover as she slept. Idly threading his fingers through her hair. 

He had seen her cut men, women, and all forms of monsters down without so much as a blink and yet here she lay in his arms, peaceful and so small compared to him. A hardened mercenary turned into a literally vessel to an immortal goddess, she no doubt would become the heroine of future bard’s tales and songs.

(Unlike his long-suffering paperwork…gods, that would not be fun to reorganize tomorrow.)

She embodied the oncoming changes the world could see, of new hopes and dreams to those who dared challenge the status quo.

Like his dreams. She had vowed to walk in step with him always, even before they had become lovers, until they had could stand side by side and gaze out onto the new world they had created together. 

In his youth he had always been discouraged by those around him for his overreaching dreams and goals, in favor of merely surviving his harsh childhood living amongst people who despised him, so much so that he had stopped confiding in others and whispered his secrets to the stars alone.

To think the brightest star of them all would fall by his side, offering her strength and even her love to him. She was more than a dream come true; she was something impossible that had somehow come to him from the very pages of ancient lore.

Briefly, his mind wandered to the small pouch hidden in his personal desk drawer. Fates deem it so that this blasted war end soon, he prayed silently before giving into his exhaustion.

He would need to make a point to take more breaks more often, was his last thought with a small smile.

**Author's Note:**

> *sips tea* Ahhh, much better ;)
> 
> Thank you for your time, and I apologize if this was a little rough. It's been awhile since I wrote a love scene.


End file.
